Phenomenal God!!

WOW! This week was the General Conference for the United Pentecostal Church International in Columbus, OH ....... WOW! I love technology! For $40 (thank you Julie!) we were able to watch all the services live, and if we missed the daytime ones due to work, we could watch them in the archives. Plus, my pastor was there and was "live blogging" on the ninetyandnine.net website, and he was hilarious! He and 5 others were commenting on all aspects of the conference, from business meeting election results, to "hall ministry" out in the lobby, to the fashion statements being made by certain individuals (green towel girl!), to the powerful, anointed preaching and the sovereign moves of God that were occuring during the services! It was almost like BEING THERE! All I can say is that revival has arrived in America! I am not even going to go into the content of the messages given each night (because this post would be WAAAAAAYYYY long). All I will tell you is that Sunday night in the crusade service, over 1,100 people received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, speaking with other tongues as the SPIRIT OF GOD gave them the ability! WOW! Did I already say Wow??? It was an awesome sight to behold. Also, back in April of this year, we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Azusa Street revival, where God poured out the Holy Ghost in an unprecedented way, filling 1,305 with His Spirit in two days. Hang on, folks! The wave of revival that is about to sweep this nation will be something that no man can take credit for. Jesus' return is VERY near! I'm so excited about the harvest of souls that is beginning in these last days! If you have been watching CNN, then you know that evil and darkness, hopelessness and despair are rapidly consuming this lost and dying world. This is the hour of darkness, but the victory belongs to Jesus and His church! When it gets this dark, the Light of Truth shines brighter than ever; a beacon of hope leading people out of darkness into His marvelous light! Remember that Sunday school song?

This little light of mine

I'm gonna let it shine!

Well, I refuse to be silent in these perilous times! I can't be! People are going into our children's schools and killing our kids, they are hijacking planes and using them as weapons with innocent people onboard, the atrocities happening in Sudan and other oppressed areas around the world are unthinkable and unacceptable. The Gospel of Jesus Christ declares that the only real hope is found in the blood of Jesus! It is in HIS NAME that we are saved from our sin. Yes, sin. Nobody likes to talk about that word anymore. SIN IS THE REASON FOR ALL THIS WICKEDNESS that is occuring today! And whether people want to admit it or not, EVERYONE is a sinner in need of God's salvation. Period. There is no other way to heaven.... this interfaith GARBAGE that says, "Just believe what you want... there's more than one way to God..." is a lie straight from the pit of hell. Jesus said "I AM THE WAY, the truth, and the life, and NO ONE comes to the Father except through ME". It doesn't get much clearer than that. The salvation message is not some big mystery that can only be figured out by going to seminary or Bible college. It is a very simple message. Jesus came back from the dead and spent 40 days with his disciples in His resurrected body, opening their understanding of the Scriptures and telling them exactly what the message was that they were to spread to the world. Then He said, "Go to Jerusalem and wait for the power. After the power has come upon you, THEN you will be witnesses to all the world." They went to Jerusalem, they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit speaking with other tongues. They were accused of being drunk. Peter stood up and preached what the resurrected Jesus had just told Him 10 days earlier. "Repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus (yes, the name of Jesus) for the remission of your sins, and you WILL receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost." He did NOT say, "Just believe in the Lord and you will be saved." That was Paul's encouragement to the CHURCH of Rome which had already followed Peter's instructions to repent, be baptized in Jesus' name, and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY! We are accused of being intolerant and narrow- minded, but we cannot believe something that is NOT in God's Word.

There are too many people who have settled for "easy believism" Christianity... who have been sold a lie that just believing is enough. It's not. The Bible clearly states that in the last days, there will be people with a "form" of godliness, that reject the power of God... and it says "from such turn away". The power is in the infilling of God's Spirit. If you haven't received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, don't take a chance. Eternity is too long to be wrong! This is not meant to condemn people or belittle them... it is simply a warning being shouted out to the people I love! I love you too much not to tell you what God's Word says about how to save your soul.

If you are interested in checking this all out for yourself, there are some great online Bible studies you can do on your own... get your Bible out and see if I am telling the truth!

http://www.thepentecostals.org/marvelouslight.html

http://www.aplaceprepared.com/index.htm

http://www.greaterlife.org/exploring.htm

If you don't have a home church, or if you have been wondering, "Is this all there is? Is God real or not?", then please please visit one of our churches (ours is in Jericho, VT). You can locate the church nearest you on the www.upci.org website using the church locator. You will be glad you did!